Belichick Does The Right Thing

Love him or hate him, New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick did the right thing on Wednesday by addressing the Aaron Hernandez situation, showing true remorse and sadness, and then shutting the door on the matter. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

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“It’s time for the New England Patriots to move on.”

Those were Bill Belichick’s words and his message on Wednesday, when the head coach of the New England Patriots made his first remarks since Aaron Hernandez’s arrest.

It was a different Belichick than the media and fans were accustomed to seeing, a coach who looked and expressed extreme sadness and remorse. It was the right thing for him to do, and he nailed it.

In so many words, Belichick admitted that he, along with the New England Patriots had made a mistake, and that like everyone else in the organization, he was hurt. The hooded one masterfully deflected questions about Hernandez after that, giving the answers many fans and media members are accustomed to.

But his opening remarks, his candidness was exactly what the team needed. By holding this news conference, Belichick has addressed the proverbial elephant in the room, and now the team can move on.

Belichick has proven to be one of the greatest head coaches of all time on-the-field for his shrewd decisions and complex game-plans, but his off-the-field efforts have proven to be just as successful. With this conference, Belichick has addressed the situation and will not comment on it again, shutting the door on the whole thing.

There’s no way to know how good or bad the Patriots will be this upcoming this season. They could have a losing record and miss the playoffs. They could win a Superbowl. In the NFL, you never know. But either way, Belichick and the Patriots will not allow this situation to dictate their end result and their goal.

There will be more questions, more Hernandez stories and so on, but the Patriots are full steam ahead. As Belichick said,